Make Your Own and Save: Magazine Boxes

Making your own magazine boxes is a great way to save money and reuse materials. If you are like me, you probably have a lot of magazines. We get several in the mail each month. The problem is, where to keep them. Many magazines that we receive I like to keep for future reference. Which means I would like easy access to them. I have seen magazine boxes for sale at Target and Walmart, however for as many as I need, they really add up.

Having them laying around on coffee tables just creates a mess, at least when you have children. If I leave my magazines out they quickly get torn up or creased. They don't stand up well on bookshelves either. Creating a magazine box will give them the support they need to stay upright without getting bent, as well as keep them very organized. Having them in a container will also prevent them from sliding around.

My solution to my magazine storage problem is to reuse old cereal boxes. The bigger ones work best. First I cut off the top of the boxes. Then you cut the sides out as you can see in the picture. It takes me all of about five minutes to make one. You can easily see the name of the magazine, and each magazine that I store has its own box. If you look at the box from the side you can easily see the month and year of each magazine. Storing my magazines this way has allowed for very easy access.

You probably don't want to have a Honey Nut Cheerios box sitting out, but covering it is very easy. I just tape cardstock in whatever color I want on all sides of the box and it looks great. You can also use old wrapping paper or leftover wallpaper. You can decorate it however you want, make it personal and have fun.

Most people will already have all the materials they need to do this project. No running to the store to spend your hard earned money on magazine boxes. Instead of your basic black, you can customize it to fit your decor. As a bonus you are reusing an item that otherwise would have been in the trash. You are saving a lot of money (Target sells these for $12.99 each) and you really can't beat creating something usable and fun out of materials you have on hand.